well the truth that this incident highlights is that the folk music scene was not left wing hippies. hippies were not left wing to start with. the folk music scene was pre hippie and was very much led and run by middle class mediators. they shaped it to their political ends. pete seeger was one of many. the folk music scene was inherently class bigoted in it's fifties and sixties form and still is in those church basements and Wednesday night sing alongs that still have it.

that's why they had such trouble accepting celtic music. I well recall being snubbed at the singers club for making the terrible mistake of singing in gaelic and being told at the old Vancouver folk song socirty that I couldn't play nova scotia and newfoundland songs"because we play folk music here". it was always a bourgeoise pretension of being authentic , that was totally made up as one up manship not aqs any real rooted tradition. rock and roll has much deeper roots in traditional american music that any of the folk mediators. I well remember that day at the Vancouver folk song society when I looked in they were school teachers weaqring clean bib overalls and singing the banana boat song by harry Belafonte.

these were middle class young people trying to be hip and be listening to the hip music. it was no different from the fashion scene, just easy to sing songs and few instruments to trouble the poseurs.

that's the real message.

as to hippies they were rich kids. again it was about self indulgence and style. they were a bit more progressive, but when the middle class kids were no longer eligible for the draft then the anti war protests stopped on a dime. the war went on for seven more years.

the middle class reinvent themselves every generation and more holy and righteous than thou. Dylan saw that and challenged their silly pretensions and blew them away. ever one should read douglas narkners book "fake song" about how folk has a long history of class bigoted middle class mediators who were trying to use it for their own ends, much as the rump of folkies still are. very few have any roots in traditional music and in my experience they try to get rid of anyone who does. I used to carte but I just moved on the paying gigs. there is a demand for traditional rooted music, at least enough to make a living from time to time.

nd what is with the sexist bigots who keep attacking liz Cornish for mostly inoucous postings? what a bunch of lowlife. I realize her postings on native rights rile the racists who are plentifull on mudcat(at least towards natives) but this was a music post and an interesting one.